Pseudo-Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn

VERSITA 1 0. 24 78/jriss-201 3-00013 The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and
Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010

1

Critical study of the erroneous attribution of the
book Shajarat al-Kawn to Ibn 'ArabI instead of to
Ibn Ghanim al-MaqdisI

Younes Alaoui Mdaghri 1
Abstract:

Shajarat al-kawn, (The Tree of the Universe) is a beautiful short treatise on Islamic mys-
ticism that describes the universe and its true origin, the role and place of Prophet Mu-
hammad (peace be on him), and his central place in the sacred presence. According to
some manuscripts from the 19th century (13th century A.H.), it is attributed to Muhyl d-
Dln Ibn 'Arab! (d. 638 A.H./1240) . All scholars endorsed this attribution and it was con-
veyed via fifteen commercial book-prints.

The study by Arabic scholars and orientalists and some translations led to doubt about
the origin of the treatise. This was the start of an adventure because what was supposed
to be known up to now would become questioned.

During my research, I scrutinised two different unknown manuscripts of Shajarat al-
kawn. There was also a third, very old, manuscript written in the year 835 A.H. All these
manuscripts refer to the author and poet Tzzu d-DIn 'Abd as-Salam Ibn Ahmad Ibn
Ghanim al-MaqdisI (d.678 A.H./1280) and not to Ibn 'Arab!.

Furthermore, I found some proof in the biographical history and the style of writing that
pointed to Ibn Ghanim as the author. I came to the conclusion that the work was actually
written by Tzzu d-DIn 'Abd as-Salam Ibn Ahmad Ibn Ghanim. From the results of my re-
search, we can conclude that the book Shajarat al-kawn is by Ibn Ghanim and not Ibn
'Arab!. 2

This study consists of two parts. The first is: How did this treatise, Shajarat al-kawn,
come to be universally attributed to Ibn 'Arab!? The second is a discussion of the doubts
that the treatise Shajarat al-kawn was written by Ibn 'Arab!. This discussion consists of
four topics: 1) the problem of copying manuscripts attributed to Ibn 'Arab!, 2) the cata-
logues that attributed Shajarat al-kawn to Ibn 'Arab!, 3) comparison of the text of the
Shajarat al-kawn in both content and format with Ibn 'Arab! and Ibn Ghanim, and 4) the
studies and translations of the Shajarat al-kawn attributed to Ibn 'Arab!."

How Did the Treatise Shajarat al-kawn Come to be Universally-
Attributed to Ibn ‘ArabI?

The problems experts face concern not so much the text as attributing the

1 Younes Alaoui Mdaghri is Assistant Professor of Arabic Rhetoric at the Islamic University of Rotter-
dam; alaoui@iur.nl.

2 I came to these conclusions over eighteen years ago, during my Master's studies in 1989-1990 at the
Sorbonne and after that in the French Institute of Arab Studies of Damascus (IFEAD), in 1991.

7/31/1

2

The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010

work to the right author. The problem of the text is of secondary importance, in
spite of the fact that there has never been a critical edition. The treatise has been
published over fifteen times. The first time was in 1290 A.H. (1873), and everyone
agreed that the work was by Ibn ‘Arabl.

Scholars, orientalists, and translators of Shajarat al-kawn did not show any
doubts about the authenticity of the attribution of this treatise. They did not in-
vestigate if Shajarat al-kawn was composed by someone else. They kept printing
commercial editions of the work but never returned to the old and authentic
manuscripts, being certain that the work came from Ibn ‘Arabl. There are different
steps to determining the real author of the work. When I studied the biographical
history, I began to have doubts. The thought occurred to me that perhaps the
work was written by Ibn Ghanim and not by Ibn ‘Arabl.

During my research I realised I had to scrutinise all the catalogues of old Ara-
bic manuscripts. I found a manuscript in the National Library of Paris, number
5291, which was dated 835 A .H. (ff. 275a-287b). 3 This catalogue referred to Ibn
Ghanim and not to Ibn 'Arabl. It was a manuscript called Shajarat al-kawn, and on
the title page was a reference to Ibn Ghanim where it says: "kitab fihi shajarat al-
kawn li ash-sheikh as-salih al-wari’ az-zahid ai-muhaqqiq sheikh at-tariqa wa
ma'din ul-haqiqa "Izzi ‘d-DIn ‘Ahd as-Saiam Ibn ash-sheikh Ahmad Ibn Ghanim al-
Maqdisl radya llahu ‘anhu wa ardah wa ja'ala al-jannata mathwah. Amin""

On the last page (f.287b) I found a date: "15 rabf al-awwal 835 A.H.” where it
says: "tamma kitab ash-shajarat bihamdi 1-llahi ta'ala wa'awnihi, ‘ala yadi katibihi
ad'afi ‘ibadihi wa ahwajihim ila rahmatihi ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn 'Umar ma'ruf
bibni al-‘lqaml ash-shafi'i ... bitarikh khamis ‘achar, shahr rabf al-awwal, yawma
larbi'a sanata khamsin wa thalathm wa thamanimiyah ...."

So I concluded that Ibn ‘Arabl might not be the author of Shajarat al-kawn.
However, this manuscript alone was not enough to confirm this. Many great
scholars in the east, such as Hussein Nasr in Iran, Mustafa Hilmi 4 in Egypt, Arthur
Jeffrey 5 in America, and Maurice Gloton 6 in France, dealt with studies on Shajarat

3 The story of this Parisian manuscript dates back to the end of the 19th century, as stated by the
French colonialists of the Segou Kingdom of West Africa. It was included among the priceless collec-
tion of Arabic manuscripts that belonged to Ahmed Segou's library, known as Ahmed al-kabir al-
Madani Ibn al-Hajj Omar Segou, prince of that Islamic State in the second half of the 19th century. It
was founded by his father, al-Hajj Omar, the president of the Tijani Brotherhood and the leader of ji-
had against the Bambara groups between 1852 and 1864. Segou was colonised, by the French in
1890, under the leadership of Arsenal, who transferred four sets of priceless manuscripts from
Segou to Paris. At the beginning of the 20th century these manuscripts were placed in the National
Library in Paris for researchers. For details of these manuscripts see Inventaire de la bibliotheque
Umarienne de Segou (Conservee a la Bibliotheque de Paris), by Noureddine Ghali et Sidi Mohamed
Mahibou, with collaboration by L. Brenner ed. C.N.R.S. (Paris: 1985).

4 Mustafa Hilmi, "Kunuz fl Rumuz," in al-kitdb al-tidkari Muhyi al -Din Ibn ' Arab i fi al-dikra al -tamma li
Miladih (Cairo, 1969), pp. 35-66.

5 Arthur Jeffrey, "Ibn ‘Arabi's Shajarat al-kawn," Studia Islamica X-XI (1959-1960). This English trans-
lation was reprinted in 1980 in Lahore (Publisher: Aziz).

6 Maurice Gloton, L'arbre du monde (Paris: Deux Ocean, 1982).

3

al-kawn. They translated it with no doubt or suspicion that the work was not by
Ibn ‘Arabl. Arthur Jeffrey and Maurice Gloton compared the ideas of Ibn ‘ArabI in
this work with his ideas in other works to clarify obscure passages in Shajarat al-
kawn. The same was done by Claude Audebert when she studied Shajarat al-
kawn. 7

Osman Yahya 8 was convinced that the treatise was to be ascribed to Ibn
‘Arabl. This is what we also find in the catalogues of many Arabic manuscripts. In
addition, there are more than ten copies that refer to Ibn ‘Arabl as the author. Two
are at Al-Azhar in Egypt, and the others in Damascus and in Iraq. The other copies
are in the Sulaymaniya library in Istanbul and other libraries in Turkey.

We encountered, accordingly, widely divergent problems. We must discuss
these and solve them in order to be able to attribute the book to the true author.
The following should be taken into consideration. First, many manuscripts refer to
Ibn ‘Arab!; and because of that we had to find copies that refer to Ibn Ghanim as
the author, so they could be compared. Second, we had to consult the catalogues
of the well-known manuscripts that refer to Ibn ‘Arabl as the author, especially
Osman Yahya's Histoire et Classification de i'ceuvre d'Ibn ‘Arabl. [RGJ, C. Brockel-
mann’s Geschichte der arabischen Literatur (GAL], Dhayl kashf az-zunun by al-
Baghdadl, and the Fihrist al-Kutubkhana al-khiddiwiya by al-BiblawI and al-Mihl.
The information has to be handled in a critical scientific way, because there is no
real evidence about the author of the book. Third, the book itself had to be studied
very thoroughly, the style viewed in terms of art, and the way of thinking that is
described in the book taken into account, so that we can make a comparison of the
two authors and attribute the book to one of them. Fourth, the research on the
work Shajarat al-kawn that has been undertaken had to be examined as well as
the discussion that results from the three points mentioned above.

Discussion of the Doubts about the Authorship of Ibn Arabl

Discussion of the Manuscripts that Refer to Ibn Arabl

After researching the historical data, we found that these manuscripts are not
dated, which is normal with manuscripts of a later period. There are only three
copies that are dated. These three are not very old; they were copied in the last
quarter of the 13th century A.H, in 1270, 1273, and 1292 A.H. exactly. After that
period mechanical printing started. The later copies have a low historical docu-
mentary value.

The latter manuscripts became of less value once I had obtained more infor-

7 Claude Audebert adopted the Cairo edition 1360/1941 in her article "Tarlqat Tafklr ibn ‘Arabl fi
risalat Shajarat al-kawn," al-mu'aUim ai-Arabi 20/4 (1967), as did Arthur Jeffrey in his translation of
Shajarat al-kawn, whereas Maurice Gloton adopted the 1966 and 1968 editions.

8 Osman Yahya, Histoire et Classification de I'ceuvre d'Ibn 'Arab! (Damascus, 1964), RG 666. This was a
Ph.D. dissertation in 1958 at the Sorbonne in Paris.

4

The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010

mation from subsequent research. A. I discovered a manuscript from Paris num-
bered 5291 that claimed to have been written by Ibn Ghanim. My research began
with this manuscript. It has a high value because it is very old. In fact, it is the old-
est one I found, namely from the year 835 A.H. This copy is the most correct and
complete of those considered. 9

B. During my research in the library at Damascus I found a manuscript called
the Shajarat al-iman, claiming to have been written by Ibn Ghanim, bearing the
number 5253. After comparing this manuscript with the one in Paris, I found that
they were identical.

If we look at the catalogue of Riyad al-Malih, 10 which contains all the Sufi
manuscripts in the az-zahiriya library in Damascus, we cannot come to this con-
clusion because he was obviously not aware of this fact. It is possible that his cata-
logue is not based on a profound study of the manuscripts and that librarians only
studied the indices of the manuscripts and some pages but not the whole manu-
script. The manuscript consists of two books with the same title: Shajarat al-iman;
there is no difference between them. The first part of the manuscript is called
Shajarat al-kawn, the second part "Explanation of the Spiritual Situation of the
Prophet's Companions: Sharhu hal as-Sahaba." The author of this book is given as
Ibn Ghanim.

I believe that Ibn Ghanim made one book of the two books mentioned above
in some copies, since these books are so much alike. The first book gives an expla-
nation of the spiritual situation of the prophet. This is the tree. The other book,
which explains the spiritual situation of the Sahaba, talks about the branches of
the tree.

The vision of the tree is stronger as an image in Ibn Ghanim than it is in Ibn
'Arabl. It gives an explanation of the spiritual situation of the Sahaba, and this
manuscript is also in Paris. 11 The book talks about the tree of prophets and the
last prophet of this tree is Muhammad (peace be upon him). When the rain falls
upon a tree, the tree starts to tremble and after a while twigs and leaves grow out
of its branches. And when the tree is completely mature and is completely green,
someone shouts with the tongue of fate and says: "0 tree, we needed you only for
something important that is inside you.” That is the essence of prophethood, the
Muhammadi branch, and the Ahmadi secret. If this essence of prophethood is
squeezed out then the twigs, the essences of the ten Sahaba, will grow from the
branches.

Ibn Ghanim says in his book Turuqu l-wasa’il wa tamalluqu s-sa'il (The Differ-
ent Ways of the Beggars of Allah): "0, those who have the love of Allah, when the
grain of love falls on the earth where the healthy hearts are, then the roots will

9 Some pages of this copy are partly burned but were replaced from another copy.

10 Riyad al-Malih, Fihris Mciktutat Dar al-Kutub al-Zahiriyya, pt. 2 (Damascus: Publisher, Year), p. 83.

11 Arab Manuscript in Paris, nr. 2035, fol. 2a.

5

grow firm in the depth of justice and purity. All the old habits will be washed out.
Then the souls will be hung out on the branches, with love printed on them. Every
morning they will be softened by dawn because of asking forgiveness at the night-
prayer." 12

The az-Zahiriya manuscript Shajarat al-iman is not dated, but there are two
things that support the documentary value of this manuscript. First, it is a re-
viewed manuscript and bears the name of Muhammad Ibn Abd ar-Rahman Juha,
1243 A.H. prior to the date of the copies attributed to Ibn ‘Arabl. Second, we noted
different kind of problems with the names of manuscripts and copies of Ibn
Ghanim: sometimes we find "Tzz ud-DIn Ibn Abd as-salam Ibn Ghanim" and some-
times "‘Abd as-salam Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ghanim al-MaqdisI,” etc. However, on
the other hand, we find versions containing Shajarat al-kawn that are in perfect
shape as far as the full name is concerned. This indicates that the copyist is sure of
a fixed attribution to Ibn Ghanim. On the first page of the az-Zahiriya manuscript
(5253: fol. 136a-160b), we find the following”: 13 ”k/tdb shajarat al-iman, ta’lif sh-
Sheikh al-imam al-'alim al-'allama sh-Sheikh 'Izzi d-Din abd as-salam Ibn Ahmad
Ibn Ghanim al-MaqdisI qaddas Allah sirrahu wa ruhahu wa nawwara darihahu wa
nafa'ana bihi wal-muslimina amin." u

C. After closely reading some of Ibn Ghanim’s manuscripts at the National Li-
brary in Paris, I stumbled on part of another manuscript constituting about one
quarter of the treatise, Shajarat al-kawn at No. 3522 (f.f.: 30b-36b) and bearing
the title: ishara fi mi'raj an-nabi salla llahu 'alayhi wa sallam preference to the
Ascent of the Prophet, peace be upon him) attributed to Ibn Ghanim al-MaqdisI.
We do not understand how this part Shajarat al-kawn came to be present in this
manuscript of Ibn Ghanim’s famous work, kashf al-asrar ‘an hikam t-tuyur wa 1-
azhar. We do not know why there is this confusion in that manuscript, which does
not distinguish between duplicate titles, and incomplete parts of the work Shaja-
rat al-kawn, and appended a notification and sermons by Ibn Ghanim unrelated to
the work. In addition, we do not know why the dates of the copies were not stated.

It would, perhaps, be more correct to assume that this manuscript version
has been reproduced from an old copy of the text, including the book kashf al-
asrar ‘an hikam t-tuyur wa l-azhar, the book Shajarat al-kawn, and sermons and
poems by Ibn Ghanim al-MaqdisI. The copyist who conveyed the manuscript to us
was able to reproduce what distinguishes it from the original text. This version
thus came in a patchwork and incomplete form! The title, which contains the part
of the Shajarat al-kawn, is ishara fi mi'raji n-nabi salla llahu 'alayhi wa sallam. This
reduction deluded the copyist into thinking that the manuscript was one complete

12 Turuq al-Wasa'il wa Tamalluq al-Sa'il, manuscript at Leiden University, Oosterse Handschriften, OR
709, fol. 90b.

13 Cf. the exact name of Ibn Ghanim and the name written on the Paris manuscript (2035, fol. 27a) and
the complete name of his biography that I will mention later.

14 j 7- : 7 7 7 - j— 4^1 ^ , r. 1 r . jc. — ; ’ 1 . alii 1 - . 1. .

6

The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010

work, which has the same title - kashf al-asrar 'an hikam t-tuyur wa I-azhar - and
that the part of the Shajarat al-kawn, as well as the poems and sermons by Ibn
Ghanim, are part of the first book, which is a group of "references." Therefore, the
copyist thought that it was a reference from the references to kashf al-asrar and
guessed the title to be ishara fi mi'raji n-nabi salla llahu alayhi wa sallam on the
basis of the topic, calling what followed it from the sermons and poems isharat fi
t-tawhld.

D. The fourth argument we find in a short note published by Elias Sarkis in his
book Mu'jam al-matbu'at al-'Arabiya wa l-mu’arraba 15 (Glossary of Arab Litera-
ture); Sarkis says: "I saw a manuscript entitled Shajarat al-kawn, by Ibn Ghanim
al-MaqdisI, similar to the work attributed to Muhyl ad-DIn Ibn ArabI printed in
Bulaq."

We have thus solved the problem of the copying of manuscripts attributed to
Ibn 'ArabI, and we are relatively sure of the preponderance of the copies attribut-
ed to Ibn Ghanim.

Discussing Catalogues Attributing Shajarat al-kawn to Ibn Arabi:

The oldest catalogues that attribute Shajarat al-kawn to Ibn ‘Arabi are, first,
Fihrist al-Kutubkhana al-khiddiwiya, 16 which was composed by Muhammad al-
Biblawl and Ahmad al-Mihi between 1305/1887 and 1309/1889. After that is
Dhayl kashf z-zunun 17 by Baghdadi (d. 1920). Third is Geschichte der arabischen
Literatur 18 by Carl Brockelmann (in 1943). Histoire et Classification de i’ceuvre
d'Ibn ‘Arabi (R.G.) by Osman Yahya (in 1958- 1964) is fourth. 19

A. With regards to the Fihrist al-kutubkhaneh, I believe that it was the refer-
ence that was adopted by the author of Dhayl kashf z-zunun. The authors of the
fihrist al-Kutubkhana attributed Shajarat al-kawn to Ibn ‘Arabi on the basis of two
copies: the first was a manuscript from 1273 A.H., 20 and the second was printed in
Bulaq in 1292 A.H. This attribution here has previously been subject to criticism.
With regard to the printed version, we do not need to criticize it, since it is a copy
of unreliable origin, which are the manuscripts attributed to Ibn ‘Arab! as criti-
cized previously.

B. With regards to Brockelmann, his catalogue of Arabic manuscripts and
books is almost legendary in the history of cataloging, because it is so detailed,
accurate, and comprehensive. Nevertheless, Brockelmann and those following

15 In the margin of page 197.

16 Pt. II; p.89, d pt. I, t. VII; p.14.

17 Pt. II; p. 41.

18 Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Literatur G.I.443/12; 13

19 RG nr. 666 n Damascus. This is a Ph.D. from 1958 at the Sorbonne-Paris.
Pt. I, t.VII; p.14.

20

7

him, such as Kurkis Awwad and others, 21 thought from the start that Ibn ‘Arabfs
book Shajarat al-wujud wa al-bahr al-mawrud was the same book as Shajarat al-
kawn. So he referred to a version of Shajarat al-kawn printed in Bulaq in 1292
A.H., assuming that they were the one and same book. However, he corrected this
error in the supplement, 22 where he placed a question mark, undoubtedly because
of its similarity to Shajarat al-wujud, and then referred to the version found in Dar
al-kutub al-Misriya. 23

C. Osman Yahya left no doubt in his Histoire et Classification de 1'ceuvre d'Ibn
' Arab i either about the attribution of Shajarat al-kawn to Ibn ‘Arab! and confirmed
this, quoting from the manuscript copies, the historical value of which we have
previously discussed. However, he acknowledges 24 that Shajarat al-kawn was not
included in the old catalogues, especially those written by Ibn ' Arab i himself; such
as al-ijaza, which he wrote in 632 A.H. for al-Malik al-Muzaffar, and the Fihrist
mu'allafat ash-Sheikh al-Akbar , which he composed at the request of his adept al-
Qunawl (d. 672 A.H.).

This, and the fact that Ibn ‘ArabI did not mention Shajarat al-kawn in his en-
cyclopedic work al-futuhat al-makkiya; his method in al-futuhat, when discussing
a topic related to one of his books, is to abbreviate the discussion and then trans-
mit in detail the book specified in that topic. Note that expressions like "Kun=be",
"al-insan al-kamil=perfect man" and "al-haqiqa al-muhammadiya=the muhammad-
an truth", which are basic concepts of the treatise Shajarat al-kawn appear fre-
quently in al-futuhat.

Moreover, Ibn ‘ArabI did not mention the book Shajarat al-kawn in his works
that deal with subjects similar to those of Shajarat al-kawn; such as the book In-
sha' ad-dawa’ir, ‘Uqlat al-mustawfiz, at-tadbirat al-ilahiya and al-ittihad al-kawni
wa al-ishhad al'ayni bimahdari ash-shajara al-insaniya wa t-tuyur al-arba’a ar-
ruhaniya. 25 Therefore, it seems to me that the assumption that Osman Yahya made
in the issue of the attribution of Shajarat al-kawn to Ibn ‘ArabI is inaccurate, and
its basis is unacceptable.

Comparing the Content and Format of Shajarat al-kawn to the Works
of Ibn 'Arab! and Ibn Ghanim:

I discussed the text of Shajarat al-kawn 26 with the great European specialist
in Islamic mysticism and Ibn Arab i in particular, Michel Chodkiewicz, with respect

21 RG 667

22 Brockelmann, GAL SI. 74913. It had been printed in 1275, and had been previously criticized.

23 Brockelmann, GAL SL74913 '

2 * RG n:666, p. 625

25 See "Le livre de l’Arbre et des quatre Oiseaux d’Ibn ‘ArabI; Risalat al-Ittihad al-Kawnl," transl. by D.
Gril, in Annales Islamologiques XVII (1981): 67-68.

26 This discussion took place at the end of 1989 at the Seuil publishing house in Paris when Michel
Chodkiewicz was director there.

8

The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010

to its style, language, and intellectual content, and the relationship to the thought
and style of both Ibn Ghanim and Ibn 'Arabl'. He confirmed to me his doubts con-
cerning the attribution of this book to Ibn Arabl and based these doubts on lin-
guistic differences in the analysis of the word kun between Shajarat al-kawn and
al-futuhat al-makkiya. 27 In the Shajarat al-kawn it is composed of two characters,
i.e. al-kafwa n-nun (as where the inner meaning was interpreted as follows): "So
when Adam entered the School of instruction and was taught all the names, 28 he
looked at the similitude of [kun], seeing what He who brings into being had pur-
posed should be brought into being and saw that what was being taught by the K
of [kun] was the K of treasure ( kanziyya ): ’I was a hidden Treasure; I was un-
known but I wanted to be known...,’ and he saw the secret of the N, that it was the
N of ‘Yea, verily’ ( ananiyya ), ‘Verily I am Allah. No god save Me”' ( innani and LLAH,
la ilaha ilia and ) (Qur’an 20: 14). 29

And he says in Shajarat al-kawn as well: "So he [Iblis = diabolos] used to look
at the similitude of ( kun ) to see in its similitude the k of his own unbelief ( kufr ), so
that he exalted himself, "refused and became proud” (Qur'an 2:253). Likewise,
from the essence of the N the N of the unrecognized ( nakirah ) and the N of the
recognized appeared." 30

Ibn ‘Arab! interpreted it linguistically and philosophically in his al-Futuhat al-
makkiya, quite contrary to the interpretation of the former. He divided it first into
three characters; al-kaf al-waw, and an-nun. He says, for example, in al-Futuhat al-
makkiya: “the first word that was composed was the word ‘be’ =[kun ); it is com-
posed of three letters: Kaf waw, and nun [K, W and N].” 31

He says elsewhere in al-futuhat: "The exterior of the image of (kun) is com-
prised of two letters, K and N, and as the exoteric world was made, is comprised of
two sides: the first is exoteric ( zahir) , and the second is esoteric [bapinj. The nun
corresponds to zahir and kaf corresponds to the bapin ... whereas the mystery of
this word is the letter waw between kaf and nun." 32

He says in a third place in al-futuhat, quoting a poem
Like signs, if you set up its image,

Like the signs of the female and the male,

But he (God) who placed the whole creature

on the reality of itself (= KUN] in the world of images,

The (14), without closing the syllable ( N ), would have been shown

27 See Ibn Arab!, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, pt. 2, pp. 301, 312.

28 A reference to sura 2:31: "And He taught Adam all the names ....”

29 Jeffrey "Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn," Studia Islamica X (1959): 65.

30 Jeffrey "Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn," pp. 65-66.

31 Ibn ‘Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, pt. 3 (Place: Dar Sadir,: n.d.), p. 90.

32 Ibn ‘Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, pt. 2, p. 331.

9

Visibly, as if it was walking by destiny. 33

Ibn ‘ArabI comments on this poem as follows:

the expression of the Qur’an, in connection with the creation of the things
from the word oneself (= KUN), used two letters, like the first two assumptions.
However what occurs after oneself (= KUN) is the synthesis, these two letters are
open. But the third, which is the bond between the two, is removed because of the
closing of the syllables waw and nun. Thus, just as nothing of the qalam (penis) is
revealed in the sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. The semen is
ejaculated into the vagina mysteriously, because it is a secret (= sirr). Elsewhere,
marriage is referred to in the Arabic language as a secret (= as-sirr)\ God said: "but
do not make a promise (of a contract) with them (women) in secrecy ( walakin la
tuwa ‘iduhunna sirran...) (Qur'an 2:235). It is the same at the time of ejaculation,
they stop moving, in a state of penetration or where the qalam (penis) disappears,
like the disappearance of the waw in [KUN], as a consequence of the interaction of
the two letters (the kaf and the nun ). 34

From these texts we can conclude that it is contradictory to assume that the
person who analyses the meaning of ( kun ) ("be”) in Shajarat al-kawn is the same
as the one who analyses (kun) in al-Futuhat. There is a big difference between the
linguistical and philosophical analysis and the esoteric one.

We can add to the above observations, perhaps, the remark of the renowned
orientalist Denis Gril 35 on the difference in the symbolism of the "tree” in the trea-
tise Risalat al-ittihad al-kawni of Ibn ‘ArabI, and in Shajarat al-kawn. 36 Despite
their common theme, these treatises are very dissimilar, whereas we find a great
similarity between the treatise al-ittihad al-kawni and Ibn ‘Arabl’s work 'Uqlatu 1-
mustawfiz. Moreover, we find a clear explanation in the latter work of the talk of
the four birds, as mentioned in the al-ittihad al-kawni. 37 Also, the artistic styles in
the al-ittihad al-kawni and Ibn ‘Arabl’s treatise ‘anqa’ mughrib 38 are very similar.

In contrast, Ibn Ghanim’s literary style can be detected in the first reading of
the Shajarat al-kawn treatise. My long experience of reading Ibn Ghanim’s manu-
scripts and printed books since 1987 allows me to recognize his literary style,
which is rhetorical for the most part. It is based primarily on rhetorical methods
and the musical aspects of language, such as prosaic rhyme, wordplays, etc. which
are the dominant characteristic styles in Shajarat al-kawn. In addition, we often
find expressions in this book that are very similar in style or content to the ex-

33 Ibn ‘Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Mcikkiyya, pt. 2, p. 100.

34 Ibn ‘Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, pt. 2, pp. 300-01.

35 See his long article, "Sources manuscrites de l'histoire du soufisme a Dar al-Kutub," Annales Is-
lamologiques XXVIII (1994): 154.

36 Denis Gril, "Le livre de l'Arbre et des quatre Oiseaux d'Ibn ‘Arabi: Risalat al-ittihad al-Kawnl,'' An-
nales Islamo/ogiques XVII (1981): 67.

37 Gril, "Le livre de l'Arbre et des quatre Oiseaux d’Ibn ‘Arabi," pp. 67-68.

38 Gril, "Le livre de l'Arbre et des quatre Oiseaux d'Ibn ‘Arabi," p. 68.

10

The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010

pressions contained in other works by Ibn Ghanim, such as "ifrad al-ahad 'an ifrad
al-'adad," "Sharhu hal as-sahaba wa al-awliya," "Turuqu Twasd’il wa tamalluqu s-
sct’il, and others.” One can compare the following five texts:

1. In Shajarat al-kawn he says:

When Adam - upon whom be peace - was created, and the light of our Master
Muhammad - upon whom be Allah's blessing and peace - shone forth on his fore-
head, the Angels approached and gave greeting to that Light of Muhammad. How-
ever, Adam could not see it, so he said: "Oh lord! I should love to look at the light
of my child Muhammad -upon whom be Allah’s blessing and peace - so please
convey it to one of my members that I may see it." So Allah conveyed it to the fore-
finger, which He then raised and said: "I testify that there is no deity save Allah,
and that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah.” It is for this reason that the forefin-
ger was called ai-musabbiha. Adam said : "0 Lord! Does any of this light remain in
my loins?” He answered: "Yes," [meaning that] it was the light of his Companions,
who are Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali. The light of ‘Ali He set in his thumb,
the light of Abu Bakr in his middle finger, the light of ‘Umar in his ring finger, and
light of ‘Uthman in his little finger. 39

1.1. And in the book Ifrad al-ahad 'an ifrad al-'adad Ibn Ghanim writes:

When God, exalted be he, created Adam, peace be upon him, he put the light
of Muhammad in him, peace and grace upon him. This light shone on Adam’s fore-
head and lit up to just below the throne. The Angels went before Adam to greet
him in peace. Adam then wished to see the light of Muhammad, peace and grace
upon him, as the angels saw it and claimed: ‘Oh my God! I would like to see the
light of my child Muhammad, peace and grace upon him, Transfer it to one of my
limbs.’ God moved it to put it on his forefinger. When Adam, peace be upon him,
looked at the light of his child Muhammad, peace and grace upon him, on his fore-
finger, he raised it saying: ‘I testify that there is no god but God, and that Muham-
mad is God’s Messenger.’ It is for this reason that the forefinger was called a /-
musabbiha, ‘that which glorifies.’ Adam said, ‘Lord! Will a trace of this light remain
within me?’ God answered him: ‘Yes, the light of his four Companions, Abu Bakr,
‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali.’ Adam said, ‘Oh my lord! Transfer them to my body so
that I can see them.' He then put the four lights of the four Companions on to his
four fingers. 40

2. He says in Shajarat al-kawn:

For people have gone far astray and erred concerning me, saying that I en-
compass One Who has no mode of being.

0 Muhammad! How could One whose essence has no boundaries, and whose
attributes are beyond number, be said either to be separated from me or borne by
me? If His name is the Merciful, and taking His seat one of His attributes and quali-

39 Jeffrey, "Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn," Studia Islamica XI (1960): 125.

40 Ibn Ghanim, Ifrad al-Ahad 'an Ifrad al-'adad, copy in the National Library of Paris (nr. 6882, f. 18a).

11

ties, and His attributes and qualities are connected with His essence, how could
He be either attached to me or separated from me, seeing I am not from Him and
He is not from me? 0 Muhammad, by His might (I swear), I am not near enough to
Him to be in touch nor yet far enough away from Him to be separated. I do not
have the ability to bear Him. Nor am I inclusive enough to encompass Him or pro-
vide a similitude for Him. Nay, indeed, it twas He, in His mercy, Who brought me
into existence, as a favour and a kindness. Were He to annihilate me that would be
but kindness and justice on His part. 0 Muhammad, I am something borne by His
power, formed by His wisdom, so how could it be true that the Bearer is borne? So
do not believe that about which thou hast no knowledge. Truly, hearing and see-
ing and having a heart are all matters about which in His case there is much ques-
tioning. 41

2.1. In one of his poems in Ifrad al-ahad 'an ifrad al-'adad Ibn Ghanim says:

Whoever believes by ignorance that the throne (of God) can support Him cheats and

ventures in injustice and aggression.

The throne, the ground and the seat ( kursl) are his creatures;

He has created them marvelously and magnificently.

The throne begs highest; in its remote the throne is always in its search in love with

God . 42

It is remarkable that Shajarat al-kawn is not the only one of Ibn Ghanim’s
works that was attributed erroneously to Ibn ‘ArabI: the work Hall ar-rumuz wa
mafatih al-kunuz was also attributed to him, whereas it is certain that Ibn Ghanim
wrote it. The same book is attributed to al-Tzz Ibn ‘Abd as-Salam as-Sulaml (d. 660
A.H.), in the edition of Jaridat ul-islam of 1899/1317, and in al-Matb’a al-Yusufiya
called Khulasat zubad at-tasawwuf. Also attributed to Ibn ‘ArabI is the work by Ibn
Ghanim known as Kitab taflis iblls in the Cairo edition of 1277 A.H., under the title
al-Qawlu an-nafis fi taflis iblls. 43

It is worthwhile to point out here that there are other books attributed erro-
neously to Ibn ‘ArabI. Some researchers have managed to disclose these errone-
ous attributions, as Denis Gril did in his tadkirat ai-khawass wa 'aqldat ahl al-
ikhtisas , 44 which was edited by him. Osman Yahya did not include this work in his
list of doubtful attributions to Ibn ‘ArabI; this list - according to Osman Yahya -
amounted to over one hundred and forty works. 45

41 Jeffrey, "Ibn Arabi’s Shajarat al-Kawn," Studia Islamica XI (1960): 154

42 Jeffrey, "Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn," p. 154, and see my dissertation Shi'r Ibn Ganim al-MaqdisI
(Fez: Fez University, 2003), poetry n. 292.

43 See Osman Yahya (RG), n. 571. The editors who attributed these works to Ibn ‘Arab! did so following
certain manuscripts that attribute the two treatises to him, as mentioned by Osman Yahya in the
above text. See e.g. Fihrist Al-Kizana at-Taymuriyya, pt. 3 (Cairo: Dar ul-Kutub, 1948), p. 201.

44 Annales Islamologiques XX (1984): 337-39.

45 Osman Yahya (RG), pt. 1, pp. 74-75, and Claude Addas, "A Propos du Dlwan al-Ma‘arif d'Ibn 'Arab!,"

Studia Islamica (1995): 187.

12

The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010

If the authors of catalogues and researchers of manuscripts managed to at-
tribute the work Hall ar-rumuz wa mafatih al-kuniiz and kitab taflis iblis to their
real author, ibn Ghanim al-MaqdisI, depending on the numerous and ancient man-
uscripts that attributed them to Ibn Ghanim, the continuation of the wrong attrib-
ution of Shajarat al-kawn to Ibn ‘ArabI, is to be seen as the result of the scarcity of
ancient manuscripts attributing this treatise to its real author.

Discussion of Studies and Translations of Shajarat al-kawn Attributed
to Ibn 'ArabI

This is the last remaining problem that has to be discussed. First, there is Ar-
thur Jeffrey’s English translation and introduction, followed by Seyyed Hossein
Nasr, the Iranian scholar's study, the Frenchwoman Claude Audebert's study, and
Maurice Gloton’s French translation, which includes lengthy comments.

A. As far as Claude-France Audebert is concerned, she did not make any at-
tempt to ascertain the authenticity of the attribution of Shajarat al-kawn to Ibn
‘Arab! but relied completely on the examination of this treatise in the Cairo edition
only. Nor did she make any scholarly study of this treatise. As she states in the
introduction to the study "Tarlqat tafklr ibn ‘ArabI ft risalat Shajarat al-kawn,” she
said that it would be limited to the study of the formal literary aspect. She as-
sumed that by doing so she would reach the inner meanings of the treatise and
therefore Ibn ‘ArabFs thoughts. Audebert starts by studying the visual acts in the
treatise, such as "looking ( nazara "he saw ( ra’a "witnessed ( shahada J,” etc., in
order to arrive at her conclusion immediately: the importance of "vision” in Ibn
‘Arabl’s thinking. Audebert used Ibn ‘Arabl’s books to reinforce this conclusion.

While I do not disagree with Audebert on the importance of "vision" in Ibn
‘Arabl’s philosophy, this cannot be used as evidence - in our discussion - for the
claim that Shajarat al-kawn was written by Ibn ‘ArabI. This is so because the im-
portance of "vision” and "witnessing" is not specific to Ibn ‘ArabFs philosophy; it
is the public domain of all philosophers, mystics, prophets, and divine messen-
gers. In the Qur'an we find the repeated attempts of Ibrahim to find the Creator
while gazing at the universe (cf. verses 76-78 of Surat al-An'am).

Audebert is also quite wrong with respect to the denial of historical time in
Ibn ‘ArabFs thinking in relation to her quote from Shajarat al-kawn : "So when He
calls on them to bear witness against themselves in the presence of His witnesses,
He will say: ‘Am I not your Lord? and they will answer; Yea, verity”' (VII, 171-72). 46
She comments: “As the present, the past and the future of each of these stages are
linked to each other in Ibn ‘ArabFs thinking, so Adam is a contemporary to the
Prophet Mohammed, and he is the representative of mankind, which will be called
up on the Day of Resurrection.” 47 . What is right here is that al-haqiqa al-

46 Jeffrey, "Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn," Studia Islamica XI (1960): 114.

41 Claude Audebert, "Tarlqat Tafklr ibn ‘Arab! II Risalat Shajarat al-kawn," 70.

13

Muhammadiya was a contemporary of Adam, as is stated in the relevant hadith:" I
was a Prophet, when Adam was between water and earth." 48 That Adam is the
representative of humankind that will be defended on the Day of Resurrection is
not the correct interpretation of the following phrase of Shajarat al-kawn\ "and
where he was announced during the day of testimony: ‘Am I not your Lord?”' 49
This appeal does not concern the Day of Resurrection but prehuman history,
which is the empowering world about which God had said that he asked human-
kind(-to-be) if He was not their Lord, to which the reply from humankind(-to-be)
was affirmative. 50

In general, we can note that Audebert uses the exegesis-projection method
for analyzing texts, which is not a scientific method. Following that method, we
could, for example, attribute Shajarat al-kawn to Jalal ad-DIn ar-Ruml and we
could use any texts of ar-Ruml's books to confirm this argument.

B. The study that Arthur Jeffrey presented in the introduction to his transla-
tion of Shajarat al-kawn is regarded as the most complete in-depth study that was
done on this treatise. However, Jeffrey did not do any research to confirm the au-
thenticity of the attribution of Shajarat al-kawn to Ibn ‘Arabl. I will not discuss all
the details of the study because it will take us far from the research in which we
are engaged here. But I will examine some points where Jeffrey was engaged in
the comparison between Shajarat al-kawn and other works by Ibn ‘Arabl to ascer-
tain if the contents match or are not compatible with the texts from Ibn ‘Arabi's
books to which Jeffrey refers.

From the outset, Jeffrey decided that the subject of Shajarat al-kawn was the
al-haqiqa al-muhammadiya. He then says that this al-haqiqa is the source of inner
knowledge, which is the source of power by which everything came to be, refer-
ring to page 99 of the first part of al-Futuhat al-Makkiya from the writings of Ibn
‘Arabl to strengthen his argument. My comment is that the truth [al-haqlqa) to
which Jeffrey refers - is not al-haqlqa al-muhammadiya but the al-haqiqa of the
divine names that influence everything in this world, and it is the first key. 51

At another point 52 Jeffrey refers to the fact that in Shajarat al-kawn Ibn ‘Arab!
was the only one to link the word "creature " [kun] with the Shajarat al-kawn. But
Jeffrey did not refer to any of Ibn ‘Arabfs other works. This proves that Ibn
Ghanim is the real author of Shajarat al-kawn and that it was to him that the
uniqueness of this idea belonged. If it did belong to Ibn ‘Arabl, it would have ap-
peared in his books, especially Al-futuhat al-Makkiya, since in the first part alone

48 Kuntu Nabiyyan wa Adam bayna al-ma’ wa al-Tin; see al-Qari in al-masnu' fl ma'rifat al-hadit al-
mawdu', pp. 141, n. 233.

49 "Tarlqat Tafklr ibn ‘Arab! ft Risalat Shajarat al-kawn," al-Mu'allim al-'Arabi 20/ 4 (1967): 70.

50 See Qur'an 7:172.

51 Jeffrey, "Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn," Studia Islamica X (1959): 52.

52 Jeffrey, "Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn," Studia Islamica X (1959): 53.

14

The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010

the words kun, kawn, and al-kawn were mentioned more than twenty-five times, 53
without the least reference to the link between kun and Shajarat al-kawn and its
origin, which is the seed [ al-habba ). Making the seed the word of creation, kun,
does not appear in any book written by Ibn ‘ArabI, as far as I know. The use that
was made of the word [kun] in al-Futuhat al-Makkiya does not stray far from its
true meaning except in one place, i.e. the following analogy: "He sows the seeds of
guidance and success in the earth of the human souls. Then this earth produces
according to what has been sown into it." 54

Thereafter Jeffrey talks about various similarities as mentioned in Shajarat al-
kawn and tries to find its paradigm in al-Futuhat. He refers to pages 65 and 87 of
Part I of the old edition of al-Futuhat, and to page 67 of 'Uqlat al-mustawfiz. But
when I compared those texts, I found a major difference between them, since
there is no relationship between the similarities in Shajarat al-kawn 55 and what
Ibn ‘Arab! talks about in al-Futuhat 56 concerning letters, numbers, and their se-
crets.

Jeffrey goes a long way to search for sources of the theory of numbers in the
old religions and philosophies, concluding that the rules of arithmetical similari-
ties resemble the teaching of the Manichees. 57 He goes through all the trouble of
searching for sources of the ideas contained in the treatise only because he was
aware of Ibn ‘Arabfs vast intellect and the great knowledge of this mystic philoso-
pher. If Jeffrey had known that the author of Shajarat al-kawn was Ibn Ghanim al-
Maqdisl - the mystic who did not go beyond his people's knowledge and his own
spiritual experiences - he would probably not have taken all that trouble. I think
that there are a number of similarities between the Shajarat al-kawn and the
thought of Tzzi d-DIn Ibn Ghanim al-MaqdisI, who excelled in this art, particularly
in his work Ifrad al-ahad 'an ifrad al-'adad. 58

Finally, I will mention Jeffrey’s 59 recognition of the clear difference regarding
content between the Shajarat al-kawn on the one hand and 'Uqlat al-mustawfiz
and the Insha ad-dawa’ir by Ibn ‘ArabI on the other. 60 Jeffrey’s recognition here
saves us from continuing the discussion any further. It furthermore strengthens
our reassurance of attributing Shajarat al-kawn to Ibn Ghanim.

53 See Ibn 'Arab!,, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, chs. 92, 95, 162, 187, 285, 286, 309, 310, 326, 423, 440, 482,
487, 488, 490, 533, 537, 548, 551, 577, 633, 688.

54 Ibn 'Arab!, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, pt. 8, p. 278.

55 Jeffrey, "Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn," Studia Islamica X (1959): 59-60.

56 Cf. p. 123 of Shajarat al-Kawn ("Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn"), and pt. 1, pp. 65 and 78 from al-
Futuhat al-Makkiyya, ed. Dar sadir.

57 Jeffrey, "Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn," Studia Islamica X (1959): 60.

58 The handwritten copy in the National Library of Paris (no. 6882, f. l-27b) is incomplete. A complete
copy is found in Damascus, al-Zahiriyya (nr. 4465). It contains many similarities concerning the
numbers 1-10, tangible and non-tangible things, and religious phenomena.

59 Jeffrey, "Ibn Arabi's Shajarat al-Kawn," Studia Islamica X (1959): 57, n. 3.

60 This idea was confirmed by the two French researchers: Denis Gril in Annales lslamologiques XVII
(1987): 67, and Maurice Gloton in his French translation, L’arbre du monde, p. 124.

15

C. Gloton paid some attention to the attribution of the work to Ibn ‘ArabI in
the introduction to his French translation of Shajarat al-kawn. He confirmed that
it is not contained in al-Ijaza nor in the Fihrist musannafat Ibn 'ArabI , 61 but Osman
Yahya’s confirmation of its attribution to Ibn ‘ArabI removed any doubts Gloton
may have had concering this attribution . 62

My remark concerning Gloton’s introduction is that he has adopted the inter-
pretative and synthetic methods used by the translator; he depends on the inter-
pretation of the views contained in Shajarat al-kawn applied to the complete phi-
losophy of Ibn ‘ArabI. He follows this process without referring - except in a few
cases - to Ibn ‘Arabfs own texts. Some references in Gloton’s introduction are
often far from the point he wants to make.

For example, when he talks about the Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon
him) as a pillar of the universe, he refers at the end to the content of al-Futuhat 63
and to what is stated in the chapter ‘‘Hood” of Fusus al-hikam . 64 When I compare
these two texts and that of shajarat al-kawn, it appears that their aims are very
different and their subjects quite distinct. Since righteousness [ al-istiqama ) in
Shajarat al-kawn is a divine order only for the prophet [peace be upon him) and
those with him, we find, on the contrary, in al-Futuhat and Fusus al-hikam that the
discourse is focused on the universal righteousness [ al-istiqama al-kawniya) and
legal righteousness [ al-istiqama sh-shar’iya). It is therefore an attempt to demon-
strate the righteousness [ istiqamat ) of all people, with reference to either the legal
or general aspect. Gloton follows the same method in commenting on the Shajarat
al-kawn, which takes up almost half of the book. His method confuses the features
of Shajarat al-kawn with the philosophy of Ibn ‘ArabI in his literary works and
thereby spoils its characteristics and independence. We can, in this regard, simply
refer to the comment by Gloton on the word kun to prove how this mixing Shaja-
rat al-kawn with the philosophy of Muhyl d-DIn Ibn ‘ArabI took place. In this
commentary Gloton talks about the letter waw that is concealed between the kaf
and the nun, which completely contradicts the analysis of Shajarat al-kawn for the
word kun, as stated previously. The adoption of texts other than the text that is
being scrutinised requires considerable caution to avoid confusing the reader, as
is the case here. This method does not allow the reader to recognize that the
Shajarat al-kawn is a work that is attributed solely to Ibn ‘ArabI but implies
farfetched interpretations that are not expressed in the text . 65 In a follow-up arti-
cle we will present the life story of Ibn Ghanim al-MaqdisI.

61 Gloton, L’arbre du monde, p. 12.

62 Gloton, L’arbre du monde, p. 12.

63 Ibn 'Arab!, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, pt. 1, p. 217.

64 Ibn 'Arab!,, Fusus al-Hikam, pt. 1, p. 160.

65 Mustafa Hilmi has written an article on Shajarat al-Kawn in kunuz p Rumuz, al-kitab t-tidhkari Muhyl
al-DIn Ibn ' Arab i p al-dikra al-tdmina li Miladih (Cairo, 1969), pp. 35-66, but this article has little
depth and lacks analysis. For that reason I have not included it in my survey. Also Hossein Nasr has
written an article on SHajarat al-Kawn in Iran, which I have not been able to find up to now.

16

The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010

Unauthenticated

Download Date | 7/31/15 7:30 PM